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Eden freezes, my words harsher than a slap. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“Thomas was adamant that I was having an affair with Annabeth, too, but none of it was true. I hate to be the one to break it to you, Eden, but your father isn’t a fucking superhero. He’s not as good a man as you make him out to be.”
“Shut up.”
“He’s always been a jealous fucker. Terrible with money, dependent on alcohol—”
“I saidshut up!”
“I confronted him about his shitty behavior, but Thomas was too much of a self-centered asshole to realize how badly he was hurting his family. He treated Annabeth like shit, doubted her loyalty when she was nothing but a good wife and mother going through a hard time. That’s why we had our falling out. He couldn’t handle the goddamn truth. It’s a miracle he was able to hide his demons from you for so long. Either he was really good at lying to you, or you chose to turn a blind eye.”
Eden strikes me across the face, the sting of my cheek nothing compared to the loud crack echoing in my ear.
“Don’t you dare disrespect him like that,” she hisses.
“You’re being an idiot, Eden. Maybe it’s time you grow the fuck up and realize that making excuses for that man is the most pathetic thing you can do.”
Eden takes several slow steps back, her lips pressed into a thin line. “I quit,” is all she says before walking away.
Chapter 35
Tip #35: Never read the comments section.
EDEN
“If you sit there any longer, you’ll fuse with the couch cushions.”
I don’t bother responding. Taylor’s trying to speak lightly, crack a couple of jokes to relieve the tension in the air, but I’m not having it. I’m so mad I don’t know what else to do.
It’s been two weeks since I walked away. Two weeks since I saw Hunter and Annabeth together, speaking in hushed whispers and sharing an intimate momentbetween friends.
Bullshit. Absolute bullshit.
I saw with my own two eyes the way they were looking at each other. Warmth and fondness and familiarity was soaked into every crevice of their being. Combined with what Walton told me at the hospital, it’d be stupid for me to draw any other conclusion.
Taylor peeks outside through the crack in our curtains. “Should I try calling the cops again? Maybe that’ll scare them away.”
I shrug. I don’t see much point in calling. The paparazzi are hanging out on the sidewalk. It’s a public space. They’re allowed to be there. As long as they’re not obstructing traffic, they can get away with it. How they managed to track down my address, I’ll never know.
Hooray for me.
“Maybe you should call Hunter,” Taylor suggests. “He’d come and get you and—”
“No.”
“Eden…”
“I’m not talking to him right now. Maybe ever.”
“But he needs to know about the baby.”
Apart from the doctor, Taylor’s the only other person in existence who knows that I’m pregnant. She’s agreed to keep my secret for now, but she’s been pressuring me more and more to reach out the last couple of days.
“If he’s the father—”
“You know he is.”
“Then he deserves to know, Eden. I understand that you’re mad at him. I would be, too, but keeping the existence of his child from him is cruel.”
